TIME Names Apple iPhone 5 Gadget of the Year

By Jeff Gamet

Dec 12th, 2012 8:46 AM EST

Apple's iPhone 5 was named TIME Magazine'sGadget of the Year, earning praise as "one of the most artfully polished gadgets anyone's ever built." The iPhone 5 beat out Samsung's Galaxy Note II, and the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display, both of which were also on the list.

iPhone 5: TIME Magazine's Gadget of the Year

TIME Magazine said,

Apple may be responsible for more than its share of the tech industry's great leaps forward, but it's at least as good at fussing over the tiny little details other companies ignore. The iPhone 5, which starts at $199 with a two-year contract, is one of the most artfully polished gadgets anyone's ever built, with a taller screen than previous iPhones built into a thinner, lighter case. The camera, with a particularly well-done panorama mode, is another highlight. There are lots of nifty smartphones out there, including the iPhone's impressive archrival, Samsung's Galaxy S III. But when it comes to melding hardware, software and services so tightly that the seams fade away, Apple still has no peer.

The Top 10 Gadgets of the year included, in order, the iPhone 5, Nintendo's Wii U, the Sony Cyber-shot RX100, the Raspberry Pi Model B, the Lytro camera, 15-inch MacBook Pro, Microsoft's Surface with Windows RT, the Samsung Galaxy Note II, the Nest thermostat, and Simple.TV.